International Women’s Day 2022

Your definitions of woman and feminine are as unique as your experiences. 

Woman does not always signify feminine. 

Feminine does not always signify woman.

Woman and feminine both *do* signify valuable, important, radical, worthy, powerful, and equal. 

“A woman can be masculine, a woman can be trans, a woman can be intersex… a woman can be whatever she identifies as. It doesn’t make her any less of a woman.” — Munroe Bergdorf 

“Women need a seat at the table, they need an invitation to be seated there, and in some cases, where this is not available, they need to create their own table. We need a global understanding that we can not implement change effectively without women’s political participation.” — Meghan Markle 

I find it beautiful, fitting, and downright poetic that on this year’s International Women’s Day, we see Venus between a rock and a hard place. 

Venus is our traditional signifier of womanhood and femininity, and she finds herself firmly pressed between the aggression of Mars and the patience of Saturn.

What could possibly be more indicative of the woman than getting things done despite the odds?

Venus will not wither or crumble in this difficult position. 

She will steep in this hot water, enrich her flavor, and let the ice cubes cool off any hasty decisions that still need to marinate. 

It does not matter how much she is attempted to be oppressed, silenced, or erased; she will rise. 

Image: body molds of strong women casted and created by The Nature of Fire by Ashley Rivers, an embodiment of empowerment ❤️‍🔥